Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) overcame late-season fatigue and shooting woes to get back on track and qualify for the NCAA Tournament outright with back-to-back wins over Kentucky and LSU as it took them three overtimes and another All-SEC performance from power forward Rashaun Agee, who scored 26 points and 11 rebounds, including a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the third overtime.
Paired with Rylan Griffin (24 points) and Pope Isaacs (18 points), the trio combined to score 68 of the team’s 94 points, and first-year head coach Bucky McMillan should be the front-runner for SEC head coach of the year after taking over a program with zero starters while having to scour the transfer portal for leftovers to build a roster with just one active player when McMillan was hired.
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After finishing with a 2-6 record in February that included a four-game losing streak, Texas A&M’s season-ending turnaround was not only impressive, but it also led to the Aggies coming out of the NCAA Tournament “bubble,” with ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi putting the Aggies back on the field for the first time in weeks, while the Texas Longhorns, who lost to Oklahoma State on Saturday, are back on the bubble in the “last four bye” category.
Additionally, BarTorvik has the Aggies’ playoff odds at 99%, so this is a pointless exercise for those who still think McMillan’s veteran team must win a game or more in the SEC Tournament to shine. In fact, next week’s game will be more about seeding than anything else, as two wins could yield a No. 8 seed.
Texas A&M will face the winner of Oklahoma vs. South Carolina on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: ESPN’s Joe Lunardi puts Texas A&M back in NCAA Tournament contention